How To Wire A Switch Leg Outlet

Step 7 turn the power on.

How to wire a switch leg outlet. The switch leg is controlling the bottom half of each split receptacle outlet. The neutral wire in the new switch box is capped with a wire nut unless it s needed for a smart switch or timer. Connect the hot incoming power wire to one of the switch wires. Notice that these outlets have the tab removed from the hot side or brass side of the outlet which allows the top half of the plug to be controlled only from the switch.

When using the white wire as a hot or line it must be re identified with a different color other than white gray or green. Then use the switch to test the newly installed fixture on the switched leg of the switch. A three conductor cable is used to bring the hot wire the switch leg and the neutral conductor to the outlet on the right. Since white wires are normally neutral it s a good idea to wrap a bit of electrical tape around it near the.

Go back to the main breaker box and switch the circuit breaker for the switch to the on position. Pull 12 2 or 14 2 romex with ground power leg cable from the breaker box or another receptacle box into. The second wire completes the circuit by connecting to the house neutral wire in the switch wiring box instead of in the outlet wiring box. This shows wiring a light switch when the power comes into the light outlet first.

Secure the wiring connections with wire nuts to properly shield them. The switch leg is still made up of two wires but the hot wire connects directly to the switch and the two wires connect directly to the outlet. The white neutral wire in the new switch box complies with nec 2011 requirements. This will be the side with the shorter prong opening.

Mount a single gang receptacle box and a single gang switch box at the desired locations. With this arrangement all the other receptacles are wired directly to the hot source and the switch controls the middle outlet only. The diagram below shows the power entering the circuit at the grounded outlet box location then sending power up to the switch and a switched leg back down to the outlet. 12 9 17 its over 9000.

Connect this jumper wire back to the switch terminal. The old method of a 2 wire drop is explained along with the current code r. Remove the black line wire from the switch twist it together with the black wire going to the receptacle and add a six inch length of black wire of the same gauge.